On March 18th, The Secret Science Reform Act of 2015 (H.R. 1030) passed the House 241-175, along an almost party line. The bill prohibits the EPA from “proposing, finalizing, or disseminating a rule, regulation or any “covered action” unless all scientific and technical information” used to inform the action is publicly available to allow reproducibility by independent analyses.
The bill’s supporters, including Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, who introduced the bill and the 28 other cosponsors, contend that the EPA conducts research in a secretive fashion, and that the public cannot properly assess ...